Analog filter pair design on the basis of a gyrator–capacitor prototype circuit

The paper presents an algorithmic approach to a low‐sensitivity design strategy for analog filter pairs based on a gyrator–capacitor prototype circuit. The general structure of the prototype circuit is proposed. It assumed that the generic structure of the prototype circuit can evolve, with the use of additional gyrators, into a circuit with increased redundancy. It is shown that symbolic analysis of the prototype circuit, used to formulate a set of nonlinear algebraic equations, is necessary to achieve a sufficiently high algorithm operation speed. To find a solution to this specific system of nonlinear algebraic equations, different numerical methods are compared. The modified Hooke and Jeeves algorithm is found to be the most effective. The elaborated algorithms and programs are illustrated with the seventh‐order filter pair example. The obtained filter is better than the filter obtained using LC ladder structures with respect to chip area and power consumption, and these improvements are obtained without loss of sensitivity properties. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improvement in sprouted wheat flour functionality: effect of time,temperature and elicitation

This study was aimed at optimising conditions of wheat germination (temperature, time of sprouting and elicitation) to improve its phenolics content, antioxidative capacity and nutritional quality. Total phenolics and antioxidant potential were improved most effectively after 4 days of sprouting at 20 °C. The highest reducing ability and the ability to quench free radicals (1.24 mg Trolox equivalent (TE) g^?1 d.m. and 0.38 mg TE g ^?1 d.m., respectively) were determined for 4‐day‐old control and willow + yeast elicited sprouts germinated at 20 °C. The kinetics of starch and protein mobilisation were affected by sprouting conditions. The highest protein digestibility was found for 2‐day‐old sprouts germinated at 20 °C, whereas the lowest for 4‐day‐old sprouts germinated at 25 °C. Starch was more effectively mobilised during germination at 25 °C. Sprouting conditions were found to effectively modify the quality of sprouts. A key role was ascribed to time and temperature of sprouting, whereas the effect of elicitation was marginal.     

Antioxidative and reducing capacity,macroelements content and sensorial properties of buckwheat‐enhanced gluten‐free bread

Common buckwheat flour (BF) was used to substitute 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of corn starch, the main component of a gluten‐free bread formula, to make buckwheat‐enhanced gluten‐free breads. The 40% BF‐enhanced gluten‐free bread showed the highest antioxidant capacity against ABTS⁺˙ and DPPH˙ radicals (4.1 and 2.5 μmol Trolox g^?1 DM, respectively) and reducing capacity measured by cyclic voltammetry (1.5 μmol Trolox g^?1 DM). The antioxidant and reducing capacity of buckwheat‐enhanced gluten‐free breads were positively correlated with their total phenolic contents (r = 0.97). The 40% BF‐enhanced gluten‐free bread showed the highest overall sensory quality (7.1 units) when compared to control gluten‐free bread (1.8 units). The linear relationship between applied increasing BF doses in gluten‐free bread formula and magnesium, phosphorus and potassium content in breads was noted. It was concluded that 40% BF‐enhanced gluten‐free bread could be developed and dedicated to those people suffering from coeliac disease.     

Low-Temperature Anomalies in Magnetic, Electric Transport and Thermal Properties of CeRhSn

In this review work we review the low-temperature specific heat data, thermal expansion coefficient, and magnetic properties of CeRhSn. The data are consistent with non-Fermi liquid behaviour; the magnetic susceptibility, χ (T), and the zero-field electronic specific heat coefficient γ ≡ C/T varies as T ⁻ⁿ , and the magnetic contribution to the resistivity ρ is nearly linear in T. We also discuss the effect of alloying in the series of CeRhSb_1-x Sn _x and Ce_1-x La _x RhSn alloys on the ground state properties across the series with the increasing x. The series CeRhSb_1-x Sn _x with variable x exhibits a complicated. Previously, we have determined a quantum critical point at the border of Kondo insulator (KI) CeRhSb and the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) phase, located at x = x _c ≈ 0.12 in the Sb-rich regime. At the CeRhSn side singular quantum fluctuations due to 4f electrons of Ce coexist with the spin fluctuations. In the series of Ce_1-x La _x RhSn alloys we discuss the NFL-like behavior near the critical concentration x _c ≈ 0.5 which separates the spin fluctuations in components x > x _c and the spin-glass-like behavior for x < x _c .     

Studies of selected synthesis procedures of the conducting LiFePO4-based composite cathode materials for Li-ion batteries

In this paper technological aspects of a synthesis of phospho-olivine LiFePO₄ based composite cathode materials for lithium batteries are presented. An effective synthesis route yielding a highly conductive composite cathode material was developed. The structural, electrical and electrochemical properties of these materials were investigated. It was shown that the enhanced conductivity of the cathode material is due to the presence of a thin layer of the reduced material which has metallic properties, which is formed on the grain surfaces of the phospho-olivine. We propose a synthesis route yielding LiFePO₄/Fe₂P composite material.     

Interactive Gene Clustering—A Case Study of Breast Cancer Microarray Data

We present a new approach to clustering and visualization of the DNA microarray gene expression data. We utilize the self-organizing map (SOM) framework for handling (dis)similarities between genes in terms of their expression characteristics. We rely on appropriately defined distances between ranked genes-attributes, also capable of handling missing values. As a case study, we consider breast cancer data and the gene ESR1, whose expression alterations, appearing for many of the tumor subtypes, have been already observed to be correlated with some other significant genes. Preliminary results positively verify applicability of our approach, although further development is definitely needed. They suggest that it may be very effective when used by the domain experts. The algorithmic toolkit is enriched with GUI enabling the users to interactively support the SOM optimization process. Its effectiveness is achieved by drag&drop techniques allowing for the cluster modification according to the expert knowledge or intuition.     

The Influence of 3d and 4d Transition Metals on the Glass Forming Ability of Ternary FeCo-Based Alloys

Thermodynamic modeling was used to determine enthalpies of formation and other thermodynamic parameters describing glass forming ability of Fe-Co-TM (TM = V, Nb, Cr, Mo) alloys. FeCo-based alloys are considered as candidates for applications as high magnetic flux density materials due to their high magnetic saturation and low magnetic anisotropy. Nevertheless, mechanical properties, especially the lack of ductility, are their main weakness. Therefore, further optimization by vitrification, further heat treatment and alloying should be considered. As the most crucial step is the synthesis of amorphous precursors, discussion is concentrated on the effect of transition metal substitution on the glass forming ability. The highest glass forming ability was reported for Fe-Co-Nb alloys. It can be also noted that the driving force for vitrification can be improved by substitution of Fe by other transition elements, as glass forming ability parameter ∆P_HS reaches the lowest values for Fe-less compositions.

     

Multi-criteria decision algorithms for efficient content delivery in content networks

Today’s Internet is prominently used for content distribution. Various platforms such as content delivery networks (CDNs) have become an integral part of the digital content ecosystem. Most recently, the information-centric networking (ICN) paradigm proposes the adoption of native content naming for secure and efficient content delivery. This further enhances the flexibility of content access where a content request can be served by any source within the Internet. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a multi-criteria decision algorithm for efficient content delivery applicable for content networks in general (among others, CDN and ICN). Our algorithm computes the best available source and path for serving content requests taking into account information about content transfer requirements, location of the consumer, location of available content servers, content server load and content delivery paths between content servers and consumer. The proposed algorithm exploits two closely related processes. The first level discovers multiple content delivery paths and gathers their respective transfer characteristics. This discovery process is based on long-term network measurements and performed offline. The second process is invoked for each content request to find the best combined content server and delivery path. The cooperation between both levels allows our algorithm to increase the number of satisfied content requests thanks to efficient utilisation of network and server resources. The proposed decision algorithm was evaluated by simulation using Internet scale network model. The results confirm the effectiveness gain of content network architectures that introduce network awareness. Moreover, the simulation process allows for a comparison between different routing algorithms and, especially, between single and multipath routing algorithms.